Forgiving Physician Debt
Authors: Justin A. Grischkan, David A. Asch
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2023)

Ideas and OpinionsMarch 2023Forgiving Physician DebtJustin A. Grischkan, MD and David A. Asch, MDJustin A. Grischkan, MDNational Clinician Scholars Program, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (J.A.G.)Search for more papers by this author and David A. Asch, MDPerelman School of Medicine and The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (D.A.A.).Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M22-2832 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail On 24 August 2022, President Biden announced forgiveness of up to $20 000 of student loans (1). Public reactions were polarized—pitting personal responsibility against social responsibility and questioning the social value of some kinds of education.For all of the attention to President Biden's plan, the much larger program—at least for physicians—is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program, established in 2007 under George W. Bush. Under PSLF, graduates with debt from Federal Direct Loans who make income-based loan repayments throughout 10 years of employment in government or nonprofit settings can have the remainder of their debt forgiven. The program was ...References1. Cowley S, Kanno-Youngs Z. “The Biden student debt question: will he or won't he?” The New York Times. 26 April 2022. Accessed at www.nytimes.com/2022/04/26/business/biden-student-loans.html on 28 April 2022. Google Scholar2. Federal Student Aid, An Office of the U.S. Department of Education. Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Accessed at https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service on 25 March 2022. Google Scholar3. Association of American Medical Colleges. Graduation questionnaire (GQ). All schools reports 2010–2021. Accessed at www.aamc.org/data/gq on 25 March 2022. Google Scholar4. Association of American Medical Colleges. MedLoans Organizer and Calculator. Accessed at https://mec.aamc.org/first-gloc-web/#/landing on 2 April 2022. Google Scholar5. Youngclaus J, Fresne JA. Physician Education Debt and the Cost to Attend Medical School: 2020 Update. Association of American Medical Colleges; 2020. Google Scholar6. Association of American Medical Colleges. An updated look at the economic diversity of U.S. medical students: October 2018 analysis in brief. Accessed at www.aamc.org/data-reports/analysis-brief/report/updated-look-economic-diversity-us-medical-students on 8 November 2022. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Justin A. Grischkan, MD; David A. Asch, MDAffiliations: National Clinician Scholars Program, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (J.A.G.)Perelman School of Medicine and The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (D.A.A.).Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M22-2832.Corresponding Author: David A. Asch, MD, 3400 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104; e-mail, [email protected].upenn.edu.Author Contributions: Conception and design: J.A. Grischkan, D.A. Asch.Analysis and interpretation of the data: J.A. Grischkan.Drafting of the article: J.A. Grischkan, D.A. Asch.Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: J.A. Grischkan, D.A. Asch.Final approval of the article: J.A. Grischkan, D.A. Asch.Administrative, technical, or logistic support: J.A. Grischkan.Collection and assembly of data: J.A. Grischkan.This article was published at Annals.org on 14 February 2023. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics March 2023Volume 176, Issue 3Page: 406-407KeywordsGraduate medical educationHealth careMedical educationMotivationPublic policyResidency ePublished: 14 February 2023 Issue Published: March 2023 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2023 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...